Another quick look at some of the folks we've parted ways with in 2013:

Xavier Cedeno (LHP), Nationals - Cedeno has made a pair of appearances since getting recalled from AAA by the Nationals last week. He's thrown 1 1/3 scoreless innings and earned a hold against the Rockies on Thursday.

Rick Ankiel (CF), Mets - Ankiel was designated for assignment last week, and after electing to be a free agent, he has now been let go by two of the five worst teams in baseball this season. In 45 games, Ankiel has fanned 60 times while batting just .188. But hey, hard to forget that 3-run homer he hit on Opening Day.

Chris Wallace (C), Indians - Wallace is back in AA after being reassigned on Thursday. Wallace hit .280 in 18 games for the Columbus Clippers and now rejoins the Akron Aeros. In 8 games with Akron earlier this year, Wallace was 11 for 30 (.367).

Jake Goebbert (RF), Athletics - Goebbert is hitting .285 in 64 games with 11 homers and 45 runs batted in for the AA Midland RockHounds. He's hitting .338 with runners in scoring position. Tyler Greene (SS), White Sox - Greene is hitting .400 (10/25) and has hit safely in all 7 games he's appeared in for the Charlotte Knights since his demotion. In 15 AAA games this season, Greene is batting .333 with 5 stolen bases and an on base percentage of .400.

Nate Freiman (1B), Athletics - Freiman continues to punish left-handed pitching this year, batting .329 against lefties compared to just .115 versus righties. After hitting just .148 in April, Freiman hit .351 in May and is hitting a respectable .286 in June. On the year Freiman is hitting .273 with a pair of homers (both coming against the Astros) and 16 runs batted in.

Mike Kvasnicka (RF), Twins - Kvasnicka came off the DL this week and has appeared in 4 games for the Ft. Myers Miracle batting .308 (4/13) with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. Gonzalo Sanudo, the pitcher he was traded for, debuted for the Corpus Christi Hooks on Monday.

Sam Demel (RHP), Yankees - In 22 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Demel has an ERA of 1.41 and he's allowed just 22 hits in 32 innings while fanning 38 and holding opponents to a .185 batting average. He's 1-1 and has 1 save. C.J. Fick (RHP), Rockies - Fick was released by the Astros this week after posting a 5.23 ERA in 16 games for Oklahoma City. The Rockies wasted little time in picking him up and in his first appearance for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, he tossed 2 shutout innings and earned a save.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

After starting the season 10-30, the Astros are 14-14 in their last 28 games. That's .500 baseball, folks. And if you want to know why, look no further than the Astros starting pitching during that stretch:

Opponent

W/L

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

QS

Keuchel

5/15 @ Detroit

ND

5 2/3

7

5

4

2

3

Lyles

5/17 @ Pittsburgh

ND

5

4

2

1

2

4

Bedard

5/18 @ Pittsburgh

ND

6

7

2

2

0

3

Y

Harrell

5/19 @ Pittsburgh

L

7

4

1

1

1

3

Y

Keuchel

5/20 vs Kansas City

W

6 2/3

9

4

4

4

6

Norris

5/21 vs Kansas City

ND

6

5

0

0

2

2

Y

Lyles

5/22 vs Kansas City

W

6

6

1

1

1

3

Y

Bedard

5/24 vs Oakland

ND

5

4

2

2

5

4

Harrell

5/25 vs Oakland

L

1 2/3

6

6

6

3

1

Keuchel

5/26 vs Oakland

L

6

10

6

6

1

4

Norris

5/27 vs Colorado

ND

7

8

2

2

3

3

Y

Lyles

5/28 vs Colorado

ND

7

6

1

1

3

3

Y

Bedard

5/29 @ Colorado

ND

6

7

2

2

3

4

Y

Harrell

5/30 @ Colorado

W

5 2/3

8

4

3

4

2

Keuchel

5/31 @ LA Angels

W

7

6

2

2

0

4

Y

Norris

6/1 @ LA Angels

W

6

4

0

0

3

6

Y

Lyles

6/2 @ LA Angels

W

5 2/3

6

2

2

1

5

Bedard

6/3 @ LA Angels

W

7

5

1

1

1

2

Y

Harrell

6/4 vs Baltimore

L

7

5

2

1

0

6

Y

Keuchel

6/5 vs Baltimore

W

6

5

1

1

2

3

Y

Norris

6/6 vs Baltimore

L

7

9

3

3

1

7

Y

Lyles

6/7 @ Kansas City

ND

7

6

2

2

1

3

Y

Bedard

6/8 @ Kansas City

L

4 2/3

8

6

6

3

2

Harrell

6/9 @ Kansas City

ND

7

2

0

0

3

1

Y

Keuchel

6/10 @ Seattle

L

6

7

2

1

0

6

Y

Norris

6/11 @ Seattle

L

7

5

3

3

1

6

Y

Lyles

6/12 @ Seattle

ND

7

3

0

0

2

10

Y

Bedard

6/14 vs ChiSox

W

6

3

1

0

3

6

Y

In summary, over the last 28 games, the Astros rotation - much maligned in the early part of the season - is 9-8 with an ERA of 3.00, a WHIP of 1.29, and 19 quality starts. Compare that to just 10 quality starts in Houston's first 40 games. Only 5 times has a Houston starter allowed more than 3 earned runs in a game, and three of those starts were by Dallas Keuchel, two of which the Astros won anyways. Here's a breakdown of each pitcher over the recent stretch:

Pitcher

Starts/Quality

W/L

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

ERA

WHIP

Lyles

6/4

2-0

37 2/3

31

8

7

10

28

1.67

1.09

Norris

5/5

1-2

33

31

8

8

10

24

2.18

1.24

Bedard

6/4

2-1

34 2/3

34

14

13

15

21

3.38

1.41

Harrell

5/3

1-3

28 1/3

25

13

11

11

13

3.49

1.27

Keuchel

6/3

3-2

37 1/3

44

20

18

9

26

4.34

1.42

Every single pitcher is pitching better. Want to see ERA's before this recent stretch of good pitching?

With a little more help from the bullpen and some more support from the offense, that's a pretty respectable rotation. Don't believe me? The Oakland A's are 41-28 on the year. Here are the ERAs and records of their top 5 starters:

Monday, June 10, 2013

Jarred Cosart's command failed him for a third straight start as he walked 4 hitters in 5+ innings and the RedHawks (33-27) suffered a 7-0 loss at the hands of the Storm Chasers. Oklahoma City managed just 5 hits in the game and a Brett Wallace error led to 4 unearned runs as not much went right for the visitors. Kevin Chapman and C.J. Fick each tossed scoreless innings in relief.

AA - San Antonio 7 Corpus Christi 4

George Springer hit his 18th home run and stole his 18th base, but the Missions rallied for 4 runs against Sergio Escalona in a 7-4 win over the Hooks (38-24). Erik Castro and Jonathan Meyer each homered and Meyer extended his hitting streak to 13 games, but Jonathan Singleton was 0 for 3 dropping his average with the Hooks to .118 and Justin Maxwell took an 0 for 4 and is now hitless in 17 rehab atbats. Nick Tropeano tossed 3 shutout innings in relief and fanned 5 in a losing effort.

Advanced A - San Jose 5 Lancaster 3

Joe Sclafani had 2 more hits and 2 runs batted in, but the JetHawks once again fell to the Giants, this time by a score of 5-3. Brady Rodgers suffered the loss in relief dropping to 5-3 on the year when he allowed 2 runs in the 7th after Lancaster had rallied to tie the game at 3. Delino DeShields was 1 for 3 with a walk, but was caught stealing for the 9th time this season.

Low A - Peoria 9 Quad Cities 1

Jake Westbrook, making a rehab start for the Chiefs, completely overmatched the River Bandits lineup limiting them to 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings of work as Quad Cities (34-27) was blown out 9-1. Ariel Ovando had an rbi double in 3 trips and Rio Ruiz added a double, but that was about it for highlights in a game that was all Peoria from the outset. Juan Minaya made his first start of the season and suffered the loss allowing 4 runs in 4 innings of work.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Still just 18 years old, Correa is hitting .288 in 47 games for the Quad Cities River Bandits this year. He has 12 doubles, 4 homers, 40 runs batted in and 5 stolen bases. His walk to strikeout ratio is respectable at 27 to 39 and he's made some adjustments after hitting .221 in April and hit .349 in the month of May. He's been especially clutch with runners in scoring position hitting .438 (28/64).

Supplemental Pick (41) - Lance McCullers - RHP - Quad Cities

McCullers has won 3 straight after opening the season 0-4, and hasn't allowed more than 2 earned runs in any of his 14 appearances this year. McCullers hasn't allowed a run since May 24th and has an ERA of just 1.57 on the year. The son of the former major leaguer of the same name, McCullers has 56 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings and is holding hitters to a .204 average.

2nd Round (61) - Nolan Fontana - SS - Lancaster

Fontana excels at getting on base, posting a .439 on base percentage in 42 games with the JetHawks this year. Despite missing over 2 weeks with an injury, Fontana has drawn 36 walks, hit 4 homers, stolen 7 bases and scored 38 runs on the year. He hit .365 in April before cooling off in May and just rejoined the club earlier this week.

3rd Round (96) - Brady Rodgers - RHP - Lancaster

Rodgers is 5-2 for the JetHawks and had put together 3 straight scoreless outings before getting shelled for 8 runs in 2 2/3 innings by the Stockton Ports on Wednesday. On the year Rodgers has a 4.33 ERA in 60 1/3 innings and has just 12 walks against 51 strikeouts. Rodgers was the California League Pitcher of the Week the week of June 3rd.

4th Round (129) - Rio Ruiz - 3B - Quad Cities

2013 has been something of a disappointment for the 19 year old Ruiz as he's hit just .216 with 3 homers in 43 games. He has been playing better lately though hitting .167 in April, .246 in May and now .269 so far in June. Ruiz has hit lefty pitching (.303) much better than righty pitching (.192) and has drawn 25 walks on the year while striking out 38 times.

5th Round (159) - Andrew Aplin - CF - Lancaster

Aplin has quietly put together a really strong all-around season for the JetHawks batting .290 with 17 doubles, 5 triples, 5 homers, 8 steals, 47 runs batted in, and 33 walks versus just 22 strikeouts in 59 games. Despite being left-handed, he's actually hit lefties (.339) better than he's hit righties (.274) on the year. Aplin was named the California League Player of the Week for the week of May 27th.

6th Round (189) - Brett Phillips - CF - GCL Astros

Phillips just turned 19 and is set to play rookie ball for another year. In 2012 he hit .251 for the Gulf Coast League Astros with 7 doubles, 6 triples and 7 steals in 54 games.

7th Round (219) - Preston Tucker - OF - Lancaster

Tucker recently had a 17 game hitting streak and leads the JetHawks in almost every offensive category: runs (51), hits (72), homers (11), rbis (57), and is hitting an impressive .299 in 61 games. Tucker recently took home the California League Player of the Week honors for the week of June 3rd.

8th Round (249) - Tyler Heineman - C - Lancaster

Heineman hasn't hit for much power, but he's certainly hit, batting .314 on the year. An excellent contact hitter, Heineman has only struck out 15 times in 41 games and has an impressive .405 on base percentage. Heineman has cooled off a bit in June, but was red hot in May batting .354 in 23 games.

9th Round (279) - Daniel Minor - RHP - Quad Cities

Minor is 3-1 on the year with a 3.78 ERA walking just 11 hitters in 52 1/3 innings. He's been much more effective against righties (.241) than lefties (.323), and his numbers as a reliever (3-0, 1.96 ERA, 1 BB 21 Ks) are significantly better than his numbers as a starter (0-1, 4.76 ERA, 10 BB, 21 Ks).

10th Round (309) - Joe Bircher - LHP - Quad Cities

Bircher was off to a solid start in 2013 going 1-0 in his first 7 appearances with a 2.60 ERA and a pair of saves before getting sidelined in early May with an injury. Bircher had been holding opposing hitters to a .235 average and in 4 relief appearances spanning 14 innings, hadn't allowed an earned run.

12th Round (369) - Terrell Joyce - LF - Quad Cities

Joyce has had a tough start to the 2013 season batting just .207 in 44 games for the River Bandits. He has 9 doubles and 3 homers, but just 19 runs batted in on the year. He has drawn 21 walks, but he's also struck out 48 times.

13th Round (399) - Brian Holmes - LHP - Quad Cities

Holmes is 3-3, but has a 3.55 ERA and better than a strikeout an inning while holding batters to a .236 average. Unfortunately, like Bircher, he's struggled with injuries and hasn't pitched since May 26th. Holmes closed out April with a 10 strikeout game and posted a 1.83 ERA in 6 May appearances before going on the DL.

14th Round (429) - Joe Sclafani - SS - Lancaster

Sclafani started the year with Quad Cities, but made his way to Lancaster due to injuries to Delino DeShields and then stayed there when Nolan Fontana got hurt as well. Since his arrival in Lancaster, all Sclafani has done is hit. He's batting .368 in 26 California League games, and on the year he's drawn 42 walks while striking out just 23 times.

15th Round (459) - Erick Gonzalez - RHP - Greeneville

Gonzalez made 20 appearances in rookie ball last year between the Gulf Coast League and Greeneville and posted a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings. He saved 10 games in the Gulf Coast League.

16th Round (489) - Dan Gulbransen - LF - Tri-City

Gulbransen hit just .218 with the ValleyCats in 2012 homering 6 times and driving in 37 runs in 58 games. He stole 7 bases and drew 26 walks while fanning 41 times.

17th Round (519) - Aaron West - RHP - Lancaster

West is 2-3 for the JetHawks and has a 5.62 ERA largely due to opposing hitters batting .314 against him. He lives in the strike zone walking just 5 hitters in 41 2/3 innings on the year, and he's been much more effective as a reliever (3.46, .268 opposing average) than as a starter (6.59, .336 opposing average).

18th Round (549) - Ricky Gingras - C - Greeneville

Gingras hit just .190 in Greeneville last year drawing just 4 walks in over 100 plate appearances. He had 3 homers and 17 runs batted in in 29 games.

19th Round (579) - Austin Elkins - 2B - Quad Cities

Elkins started out the year hot hitting .293 in April, but that tapered off to .244 in May and now .200 in June. He's not a power hitter and has just 8 doubles and a home run in 46 games, but has walked more times (25) than he's struck out (23). He's hitting .250 on the year, driven in ten runs and stolen 10 bases.

21st Round (639) - Marc Wik - CF - Greeneville

Wik hit .235 in 40 games for Greeneville last year, but didn't show much pop hitting just 4 extra base hits in 119 at bats, and struggled on the bases getting caught stealing 6 times in 9 attempts. He drew 21 walks, but also struck out 46 times.

22nd Round (669) - Kenny Long - LHP - Corpus Christi

Long didn't allow an earned run and had two saves in 6 appearances for Lancaster before getting bumped up to AA. Long's ERA in AA (10.38) has been inflated thanks to a pair of rough outings, but on the year, if you put his stats together, he's still holding opposing hitters to a .217 average.

23rd Round (699) - Travis Ballew - RHP - Lancaster

Ballew has found quite a bit of success closing games out for the JetHawks. In 20 appearances, he's 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA and he's fanned a ridiculous 39 hitters in 22 innings while holding his opponents to a .214 average. He's also shown an ability to keep the ball in the strike zone with just 5 walks on the year.

25th Round (759) - Ryan Dineen - SS - Quad Cities (Reassigned)

Drafted as a shortstop, Dineen spent most of his time with the River Bandits playing third. After hitting .290 in April, he struggled tremendously in May batting just .133 (6/45) and going 2 for his last 30 to drop his average on the year to .197.

28th Round (849) - Angel Ibanez - 3B - Greeneville

Ibanez hit .264 in 60 games for Greeneville last year. He hit 10 doubles, 1 triple and stole 3 bases while driving in 21 runs.

29th Round (879) - Christian Garcia - RHP - Greeneville

Garcia went 2-0 with a 4.19 ERA in Greeneville last year with 30 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings. He held opposing hitters to a .260 average in 18 appearances.

30th Round (909) - John Neely - RHP - Quad Cities

Neely has 9 saves as the River Bandits closer this year and is 1-3 with a 2.96 ERA. He's put a lot of runners on base (45 in 24 1/3 innings), but he's only allowed 8 earned runs on the year, and he's only blown one save. In 12 away games, Neely hasn't allowed a run in 14 1/3 innings.

31st Round (939) - MP Cokinos - C - Lancaster

Cokinos, a catcher by trade, has hit so much this year that he's actually gotten playing time at first base. He's batting .320 and has just 9 strikeouts in 128 at bats and he's driven in 25 runs in 35 games. He has a .404 on base percentage and has homered 4 times.

33rd Round (999) - Mike Hauschild - RHP - Quad Cities

Hauschild is 4-0 on the year with a 2.84 ERA and he hasn't allowed a run in 5 of his last 6 outings. In fact, Hauschild hasn't been scored upon since May 25th. Hauschild's ERA as a starter (2.08) is nearly two and a half runs lower than his ERA as a reliever (4.50).

34th Round (1029) - Jordan Jankowski - RHP - Quad Cities

Jankowski is 2-0 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 appearances spanning 51 1/3 innings. In 5 relief appearances, he's allowed just 3 runs in 18 innings while striking out 20 and he's earned a pair of saves.

36th Round (1089) - Michael Martinez - 1B - Greeneville

Martinez hit .277 in 48 games with Greeneville last year. He hit 8 doubles, 3 homers and drove in 23 runs while drawing 22 walks and striking out 31 times.

37th Round (1119) - Michael Dimock - RHP - Lancaster

Dimock is 5-0 in 16 relief appearances between Quad Cities and Lancaster and he's allowed just 9 hits in 19 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .132 against him on the year.

Appel was selected 8th overall by the Pirates last year, but opted not to sign and finish out school. Equipped with a plus fastball, hard slider and above-average change-up, he has the ability to throw all three pitches for strikes. Appel, Stanford's all time leader in strikeouts with 372, profiles as a top of the rotation guy who can touch the upper 90s and could be in Houston next year.

SEASON

ERA

W-L

APP-GS

CG

SHO

SV

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

2B

3B

HR

AB

B/AVG

WP

HBP

BK

SFA

SHA

2010

5.92

2 - 1

24 - 3

0

0

2

38.0

44

28

25

19

26

9

0

3

149

.295

4

2

0

2

3

2011

3.02

6 - 7

17 - 17

2

0

0

110.1

114

44

37

29

86

20

4

2

411

.277

8

8

0

5

13

2012

2.56

10 - 2

16 - 16

5

1

0

123.0

97

39

35

30

130

18

2

3

455

.213

6

10

0

2

10

2013

2.12

10 - 4

14 - 14

4

2

0

106.1

80

37

25

23

130

13

2

2

395

.203

11

11

0

5

7

TOTAL

2.91

28 - 14

71 - 50

11

3

2

377.2

335

148

122

101

372

60

8

10

1410

.238

29

31

0

14

33

2. Andrew Thurman - RHP - UC Irvine - 6'3" 200 lbs

A big, durable pitcher with 4 pitches in his repertoire, Thurman has great command and projects to be a middle-of-the-rotation type starter. Thurman's velocity generally lives in the low 90s, and he has a great feel for pitching. Thurman posted a 2.66 ERA in 98 innings as a sophomore and a 3.23 ERA in 100 1/3 innings as a junior walking just 19 hitters against 91 strikeouts. In his 3 year career with UCI, Thurman went 18-10 with a 3.17 ERA, and 224 strikeouts to go with just 63 walks.

3. Kent Emanuel - LHP - North Carolina - 6'4" 215 lbs

Emanuel made it three straight collegiate pitchers for the Astros and added another lefty to an organization hurting for lefty pitching prospects. Emanuel leads the 56-9 Tarheels in wins with 11, innings with 122 1/3, strikeouts with 89, and complete games with 5. Like Thurman, his command and his polish as a pitcher were his calling cards more than having elite stuff. He's most likely a back-of-the-rotation guy, but his durability could keep him around a long time.

4. Conrad Gregor - 1B - Vanderbilt - 6'3" 220 lbs

Gregor was a bit of a surprise here because as a first baseman, he doesn't hit for much power. That said, he has tremendous plate discipline, as evidenced by his 54 walks against just 27 strikeouts this season. He's also got a good build and has the potential to develop into more of a power hitter. He's played some outfield, but first base or DH is likely where he'll end up.

SEASON

AVG

GP-GS

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

TB

SLG%

BB

HBP

SO

GDP

OB%

SF

SH

SB-ATT

2011

.353

58 - 49

170

33

60

11

0

3

32

80

.471

32

2

30

2

.456

2

3

2 - 4

2012

.328

63 - 63

229

37

75

20

1

3

35

106

.463

41

6

41

6

.439

2

1

10 - 10

2013

.313

64 - 64

224

47

70

14

0

3

48

93

.415

54

6

27

6

.442

10

1

21 - 24

TOTAL

.329

185 - 176

623

117

205

45

1

9

115

279

.448

127

14

98

14

.445

14

5

33 - 38

5. Tony Kemp - 2B - Vanderbilt - 5'7" 165 lbs

Kemp hit a ton this year batting close to .400 for the Commodores. His small frame will keep him from ever hitting for much power, but he shouldn't need to if he continues to hit the way he does. The SEC Player of the Year has decent power to the gaps, and can punish teams with his legs. In 2013, Kemp stole 33 bases and notched 6 triples. A good middle infielder, Kemp also can play some outfield where he's got good range and takes good routes.